The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the fashion industry, putting face masks front and center in the global spotlight.

Whereas the pre-coronavirus days saw them primarily as protective gear for health workers, the pandemic has turned face masks into a fashion statement that reveal the wearer’s personality and interests, even identity.

An online survey Statistics Indonesia (BPS) conducted from Sept. 7 to 14 and involved 90,967 respondents across the archipelago also appears to support this trend, with 92 percent of respondents wearing masks in public. The results of the BPS survey also showed that overall public compliance rated higher in wearing masks than the two other health protocols, hand washing and physical distancing.

The figure seems to prove just how much face masks have become an inseparable part of our daily lives.

Although the latest developments in vaccines may offer a ray of hope, the end of the pandemic is still not in sight, and Indonesian fashion designer Musa Widyatmodjo predicts that face masks will remain a fashion mainstay in 2021.

Musa told antaranews.com that the face mask trend would not completely disappear, and that it would be no surprise to see people continuing to wear them masks even after the pandemic had ended. He added that the trend could be an opportunity for fashion designers to innovate and pour their creativity into designing trendy masks.

“In the past, we made face masks [without considering other features],” said Musa, noting the wide variety of face masks available in the market nowadays.

In addition, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could actually capitalize on the opportunity presented by the mask trend, he said, but cautioned that SMEs should adhere to recommendations from health experts and government standards.

“We need to learn how to make good and safe face masks,” Musa stressed.

Read also: Indonesian designers, brands make chic face masks for the fashion-forwards

Dozens, if not hundreds, of Indonesian designers and labels have started producing chic face masks over the last eight months, sometimes in collaboration with artists and celebrities, to keep wearers healthy, safe and fashionable.

Jakarta-based A&E Tailors, for instance, started making masks in April. The company stated on its Instagram account (@aetailors) that the primary goal in producing the masks was to create ones that offered protection, yet were still comfortable to wear.

Producing fashionable masks has also been a way to keep businesses afloat during the economic fallout from COVID-19.

Some SME owners, like Haryati Suroso of Batikque Batik in Sleman, Yogyakarta, and Lily Mariasari, the designer-founder of Elemwe Butik in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, have also been producing fashionable face masks ever since they saw their business earnings plunge after the Indonesian outbreak emerged in March.

Haryati spied a light at the end of the tunnel in May, when she received bulk orders for cloth masks from several state institutions as part of a program managed by the Yogyakarta COVID-19 task force.

As for Lily, she said that cloth masks made up around 70 percent of Elemwe’s orders, with the remainder comprising batik wear, clothing and accessories. (jes)